Moving On
by GuardianAngel102310
Summary: What if, instead of running away, Jacob did something productive with his life? For instance, something like... college? Jacob Black moves across the country with Quil and Embry to attend school and get an education, while trying to move on from Bella at the same time. Jacob does not imprint on Nessie. I do not own anything that you recognize. Jacob/OC
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Jacob POV**

I stared at the envelope in front of me, anger and heartbreak flowing rapidly through my veins. I hadn't even realized I had been gripping the table until my dad said something. "Son, we only have the one table."

I looked at my hands and quickly let go when I saw that my fingers had splintered the wood.

How could she do this? How could she just throw her life away to live forever? Who wanted to live forever, anyway? That family of bloodsuckers she called hers didn't even want to live forever—they hadn't been given a choice. If they had, they would've all said no. Each and every one of them made that very clear. Yet here she was, _choosing_ to live forever. To see everything, to watch her loved ones grow old and die while she remained eighteen. Never changing. Never growing. Never actually living.

I had to get out of here. I had to think. I know that Bella would be devastated if I didn't go to her wedding, but why should I care? After all the pain and suffering she'd put me through? And then I get this fancy stationary from her husband-to-be, telling me the exact date that she would be lost to me forever. How would I be able to show up there and stay in control?

Anger finally took over as the predominant emotion and I stormed out of the house, throwing the envelope in the mud just outside my door, leaving my dad behind, calling for me through the rain. I would talk to him later. I needed to figure some things out right now.

In the blink of an eye, I was in wolf form, sprinting through the forests of the Olympic Peninsula. One thing that I absolutely loved about running in wolf form—it was always so freeing. The wind rushing past, the animals going about their lives, all the different smells of nature… It was peaceful.

I didn't understand how Bella could do any of this so quickly. I understood love—believe me, if I could marry Bella right now, I would—but I didn't understand love to the point of throwing your life away. Yes, she would get Edward forever, along with the rest of the Cullens. But what would she lose? She would never be able to have children, never be able to see her human friends, never be able to see her mother or Phil…. She would never be able to see or be around Charlie again. That old man loved her more than anything in the world. Her "death" would kill him. Charlie had always been a good man, a great father, and a great surrogate uncle to me—he didn't deserve this.

She would also lose me. The pack was allowing her to change and keep the treaty intact because it was her decision, but that didn't mean that we were going to be all buddy-buddy with the vamps. If she became a newborn and did anything to put the humans around us in jeopardy, we would have to get rid of her. I would have to kill her. We could never be friends after this.

Did she even care?

I hadn't even realized that I had stopped until I found myself sitting in front of a small lake with a waterfall running into it. I looked around.

Nothing looked familiar. Where was I?

_Jake? Are you okay?_ Sam phased and asked. He was still in La Push.

I sighed. _Sam, can I just be alone for a while, please?_

Sam let out a small whimper. _If you want. But I do have some things to say to you before I let you wallow in your own self-pity._

I growled at him. _What do you want?_

_Jacob. Watch your tone. I don't want to have to _make_ you come back, but I will if I feel the need._

_Fine. What?_

_Bella's made her choice. She's going to marry the leech and she's going to become one. You need to accept it and move on. So, instead of running away from your problems—problems of your past—why not move on to a future?_

I was confused. What future? _What are you talking about, Sam?_

Sam sighed. _Your education, Jake. You want to be a mechanic, right? Why not take that one step up and become a mechanical engineer? Get your GED, go to college. I'm willing to let you go wherever you want, even if it's across the country. We have enough wolves phased now to hold down the fort and I don't see any impending wars on the forefront. If anything comes up, I'll let you know._

Still confused. Why was he suddenly concerned about my future outside of wolf business? _What brought this on?_

_You can't run around as a wolf for the rest of your life, Jake. I mean, I guess you could, but think about everything you'd be missing out on. All the things and people you love that you'd be giving up. And you'd be giving it all up for some girl who wasn't even meant to be yours._

_I love her_, I snarled.

_And I understand that. But Jacob, think about it. If she _had_ chosen you and you two got together, got married, maybe had a kid or two, and then you imprinted—what then? Would you really want to do that to her? Trust me, Jake. That is not something anyone should ever have to experience. From either end. Just look at Leah and me. Would you want that to be Bella and you someday?_

_No…_ I sighed, defeated. _You're right._ He had a valid point. Bella may have ended up bitter and bitchy like Leah if she'd chosen me, and if I were to run away and be a wolf for the rest of my life, would I be any different than her? Yes, I would still be alive, but I'd be leaving my friends and family behind, never to hear from me again. I could not—_would_ not—do that.

I stood up and started heading back to La Push from the direction I'd come. _What do you suggest, then, Sam?_

_First thing's first. Get your GED and apply to schools everywhere and anywhere you would want to go. Oh, and Quil and Embry want to do this, too._ I could hear the smile in his voice.

_Quil and Em? Shouldn't they stay with the pack? If we all leave, then you're down three of your strongest wolves,_ I pointed out.

_Yeah, but when I talked to them about this for you, they both wanted to be in on it, too. They know that once they settle down and stop phasing, they're going to need something to fall back on, and an advanced education opens a lot of doors that would otherwise be closed. It's something they really want to do. I couldn't tell them no. But they do want to go with you._ Sam explained.

Going to college with Quil and Embry? That was a very dangerous thought. An even more dangerous reality. But it would be great.

I arrived back in La Push and Sam and I phased back, pulled on our shorts, and stood directly in front of each other. "Okay. Let's do it. I guess I'm going back to school," I smiled. Sam grinned at me.

* * *

It took a lot of time and hard work, but I had finally managed to get my GED, along with Quil and Embry. The day before the wedding, we also all got our acceptances from Michigan State University. It was far enough away that we would have a nice break from pack business, but close enough that we could be back within a couple hours if we ran. Since we were Native American and we passed our GED test with flying colors, the university gave us all full-ride scholarships for a four-year program, as long as we kept our cumulative GPA above a 3.0. Shouldn't be too hard. Right?

"Jacob Black, you are wearing this suit, whether you like it or not!" Alice Cullen growled at me. If it weren't for the fire in her eyes, I would have laughed at her attempt to intimidate me. However, it just so happened that it was working—just a little bit.

"Pixie, I am not wearing that monkey suit."

"Jake, this is your _best friend's_ wedding. It means a lot to her that you're here. The least you can do is make an effort to look nice and clean-cut." Her eyes suddenly turned to puppy-dog eyes.

I sighed, "Fine. But I'm only wearing the jacket and tie until the reception. Then they're gone."

Alice beamed at me. "That's good enough for me!"

* * *

I had to admit, the pixie did a great job with the ceremony and reception. Everything looked flawless. And true to my word, the suit jacket and tie were long gone. Seth was sitting next to me at our table as the happy couple made their rounds to visit with all of their guests.

"So. School soon, huh?" Seth asked, his eyes glued to the tablecloth.

I looked at him. "Yeah. Just a few more weeks. You okay, man?"

He sighed and nodded. "I'm fine." He looked up at me. "It's just going to be weird, you know? You, Quil, and Em are all going to be gone and the pack will mainly be a group of pups."

I laughed and shoved his shoulder lightly. "You're still a pup, yourself, Seth. Don't forget that." He smiled. "But I know what you mean. It'll be weird being so far away for so long. Sam's right, though. I need to do something for my future—for when I'm not doing the wolf thing anymore." Sometime while we were talking, the dances had started. Bella and Edward were currently twirling around the dance floor. Well—Edward was twirling and Bella was standing on his feet.

Once they had finished their dance, they came over to our table. Bella beamed at me. "Jake, will you dance with me?"

I laughed at her, "Promise not to step on my feet or knock me over?"

She looked down and blushed. "… You know I can't promise that." I smiled and took her hand to lead her out to the dance floor.

"Yeah, well… I can't promise that I won't do those to you, either," I chuckled. Our dance was nice. We basically just stood in one place and swayed side to side, but it was nice. Bella was resting her head on my shoulder and I rested my chin against her head. This would be the last time I would hold her like this.

"Congratulations, Bells," I murmured half-heartedly.

"Thanks, Jake," she whispered.

"So… tonight's a big night, huh?" I tried to make light of it by laughing, but I failed miserably, and I'm pretty sure I sounded like a dying dog.

"No, not yet," she answered and looked up at me. "We're having our honeymoon first."

I stared blankly at her. "What?"

She nodded meekly. "It's the last human experience I wanted."

I started to tremble. "Bella, are you crazy?! He'll kill you!"

"No he won't." she was very adamant about this. "He won't. His self-control is remarkable. Trust me," she muttered and looked away.

My shaking intensified as I let go of her and stepped away. She looked like she was going to try and come to comfort me, but Edward was there before I could blink, holding her back. My glare was suddenly trained on him. I wanted to kill him. "You know you're going to kill her by doing that. How can you claim to love her if you're so eager to risk her life just so you can get laid?!" I snarled at him. If Sam, Quil, and Embry hadn't shown up to help Seth hold me back, I'm pretty sure there would be a lot of Edward parts scattered around the dance floor.

"Jacob, calm down," Sam ordered. Alpha-ordered. I didn't have a choice. My body quit trembling, but my mind was still racing. Bella had silent tears streaming down her face and Edward was glaring at me. I gave him one last growl before I turned and stormed off into the woods and phased to run home.

I had to finish packing. I was going to school a bit early this year. Quil and Embry could meet me there.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Jacob POV**

"Hey, what about boxing?" Quil asked. We were all on campus and class was set to start in three days. The three of us agreed that we should take some sort of physical activity class, but we were having trouble deciding on one.

"Do you really think we should be punching people?" I asked, chuckling.

Quil's eyes drooped. "No, probably not," he sighed.

"Guys, why don't we just get gym memberships?" Embry suggested. It wasn't a bad idea, really.

"We can do that, too, but I feel like we should actually sign up for a scheduled phys. ed. class in case we aren't able to make it to the gym for some reason," Quil stated.

The three of us continued to look on the schedule builder for something for the next ten minutes. Finally, something jumped out at me. "Guys, what about taekwondo?"

"Martial arts?" Embry asked. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "That could be fun."

Quil smiled and nodded. "Yeah, let's do it."

* * *

I had just gotten out of my mechanical engineering class and I was definitely in for a rough semester. I knew that I had stuff to learn, I just didn't realize that there was _so much_ that I didn't know. I got back to my room that I shared with Quil, Embry, and one other guy named Connor. He was a dick. There was no getting around that—it was just who he was. Big-time partier, asshole who thinks that girls fight each other for the chance to talk to him… yeah. He was one of those. Luckily, he was barely ever in the room.

Dropping my backpack on my bed, I changed into a muscle shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, ready to go to taekwondo. Quil and Embry walked in just as I finished changing and they followed suit, quickly getting ready for our first martial arts class. Upon arriving at IM West (the gym our class was held in), we had our IDs scanned and we walked into the building.

"You guys ready for this?" Embry asked once we found the room and removed our shoes.

"Yeah. Should be fun," I answered and we walked into the room with the padded floor. Looking around, I saw a couple of self-defense dummies and a kicking bag across from me, a chalkboard on the wall with the door, mats on the walls, and some sort of Japanese calligraphy on the far wall above the mats.

"How hard do you think we'd have to hit one of those dummies to break it?" Quil whispered to me as we sat against the long matted wall, along with several other students.

I chuckled. "I don't know. But I'm sure we could do it."

Embry and Quil continued talking as my mind wandered. Maybe this was exactly what I needed. Some kicking and punching to take out my anger at Bella for her recent life choices. I didn't even know if she was still alive or not. The wedding was three weeks ago and I hadn't heard anything since. Maybe it was a good thing. I needed to move on and not think about her anymore. She'd made her choice. Sam was right—I needed to accept it and live my life.

The instructor—Mr. Chadwick—clapped to get our attention and addressed the class while his three teaching assistants stood lined up behind him. "Welcome to Taekwondo. Before we start, I just want to debunk some myths that are circulated around a lot. One thing that I hear a lot from students and other people who think they know something about martial arts is that this is a peaceful practice. That it's all about respecting one another and acknowledging each other's abilities." He smirked at us and shook his head. "This is a violent practice. While there is a certain level of respect involved, 'Taekwondo' literally translates to 'the way of kicking and punching'. Sounds peaceful, right?"

Students were laughing and shaking their heads.

"This class is a no-contact class, so you will not _actually_ be hitting each other. If anyone purposefully hits someone, you are done participating for the semester. I will not tolerate any of you taking away someone else's ability to train. You don't have that right. That being said, accidents do happen, and I understand those.

"Now, I want you to meet your TAs for the semester. While I will be running the class, teaching you new techniques and helping you out, these students will be going around during training and helping each and every one of you to get them right."

A big black guy—probably about 6'3"—with his long curly hair pulled back into a ponytail and a red belt stepped up and Mr. Chadwick introduced him. "This is Evan. He's a senior and has been in the taekwondo program since his sophomore year." Evan stepped back and a smaller guy—about 6'—with red hair and a blue belt stepped up. "Adam. Also a senior and also joined his sophomore year." Adam stepped back so a small Asian guy—about 5'2", but semi-bulky with a black belt—could step up. "This is Kwan. He's a junior and started doing taekwondo when he was six back in Korea." Kwan stepped back.

"There should be one more…" Chadwick trailed off as a small girl ran into the room, bowed, and looked at him. At first I thought she was Bella. She was about the same height and had long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, but she was more shapely, I'd noticed.

"Sorry I'm late! My class got out late and I didn't have time to go back to my room to get my uniform. So. I don't have that today," she said as she walked over to stand with the rest of the TAs.

Mr. Chadwick looked as if he were fighting a smile. "Alex, step up here." She did as she was told. "This is Alex. She's a sophomore." He looked proud of her and amused at the same time. "And _she_ will be the perfect one to demonstrate some self-defense techniques for when you're faced with a larger opponent."

She looked at him then trailed her eyes over the students, her eyes landing on the three of us and she blanched. We held in chuckles. Alex looked back at Chadwick. "This is because I'm late, isn't it?"

He grinned, not looking at her. "Yup."

"Of course you would do this," she muttered. "Alright, well, let's do this! I may have forgotten my uniform, but I am ready to work out and work up a sweat," she smiled. She had a beautiful smile. And she seemed to smile a lot. Unlike Bella. _No, Jake. Stop it. Leave it alone,_ I mentally scolded myself.

"I'm sure I can make you sweat," a big jock-looking guy sitting a few people down from Quil said and her eyes flew over to him. She gave him a once-over and smirked.

"Well, you could certainly _try_. It takes a lot to get me to sweat. I have great stamina," she said lowly before laughing at the annoyed look Chadwick was giving her. "What? He asked for it." At that point, I was sure all of the guys in the room were gaping at her with jaws dropped as the girls glared at her.

"Stop teasing them," he chuckled.

She grinned. "I'm not teasing. It's not my fault they most likely took my words wrong. I would gladly fight him. I'm just saying that it wouldn't be a challenge."

"Alright, alright. Students, line up along the wall," he gestured to the wall with the windows. "Shoulder to shoulder. Move down. Okay. At the beginning of each class, you will all line up here, and we will bow to each other. There's that respect I was talking about."

We all bowed to him and he to us and he gestured everyone to gather around him. He waved Alex in toward the center of the circle and she walked up to him. "Okay. So while we won't really be doing a whole lot today, I do want you to see some things. I especially want you to see that size-barriers are not that difficult to overcome." He looked over at Quil, Embry, and I. "You," he pointed to Embry. "Come here. Okay, now stand behind Alex and wrap your arms around her from behind. Then go ahead and pick her up."

Embry grinned as he did so. "She's light, right?"

"Yeah," Embry answered.

Alex pulled grasped onto his hands and pulled her legs up to her chest so she was in a ball. I knew that Embry was strong and this was still no challenge for him, but he seemed to be having a bit more trouble. "She's not so light now, is she?" Chadwick chuckled and Alex grinned.

"Okay, now set her down, but keep your arms around her."

Embry did as he was instructed.

"Alright, Alex."

Her eyes flashed and before anyone knew what was happening, she had him off the ground, her grip on his pant legs preventing his legs from touching the ground and his body was resting on her hip. His eyes were wide, as were the rest of the students'.

Alex laughed as she set him down. "I love the first day." Once Embry had righted himself, she looked at him and gently rested her hand on his arm. "Are you okay?" she smiled.

Em breathed deeply and looked at her and then laughed. "Yeah, I'm good. I was just caught off guard." She smiled at him.

"Okay, next. You," he pointed to Quil and Quil went up to Alex as Embry returned to my side.

"Alright. I want _you_ to stand in front of her and wrap your hands around her neck."

"What?" Quil had a mini-panic attack while Alex and Chadwick seemed perfectly fine.

Chadwick smiled patiently at him and nodded. "It's okay. Trust me."

Shaking, Quil lightly wrapped his hands around her neck. She laughed lightly. "You can squeeze a little harder. I'm not going to break."

Quil exhaled nervously and tightened his hands just a tiny bit, causing her to laugh again. "Okay, whatever."

This girl was so small. Even knowing that she can probably handle herself in situations like this, it was not easy to watch Quil and his 6'5" frame towering over her slender 5'3" frame with his hands wrapped around her neck. It would be so easy for him to accidentally snap her. But she didn't seem worried.

"Do you want me to go slow so they can see what I'm doing?" she asked Mr. Chadwick.

He thought about it for a second before saying, "Not this time. You can for the second time."

Quil's eyes bugged just a little bit. "Second time?"

Alex smiled and looked up at him. "You ready?"

"Ready for what…?" Quil asked. She just kept her smile in place and raised her eyebrows at him. He gulped. "Uh—sure."

Once again, before anyone had time to think, Alex had him laying on his stomach with his arm bent backwards in her lap as she sat up against his body, preventing him from moving.

There were murmurs throughout the class. I think that jock-ish guy decided that she was not a good conquest prospect.

"Again, and this time go slowly," Chadwick instructed.

Alex grinned and got up, offering her hand to Quil. The two of them went back to their original position with Quil's hands around her neck and Chadwick told them to go. Alex took her left hand, reached over Quil's arms and grabbed onto his left wrist. She then lifted her right arm straight up and twisted. Quil couldn't get away. She used her right arm to push his shoulder forward, causing him to fall onto the ground and as they fell, she twisted her body so that her back was to his side and she had his arm bent backwards in her lap, her right elbow at his face.

She wasn't even breathing hard. And Quil looked like he was almost in pain lying there, facedown on the floor. Alex just looked around at the other students when her eyes caught mine.

The earth moved. She was suddenly all I could see. All the threads tying me to Bella snapped and steel cables locked onto this girl who I knew without a doubt could kick my ass, even with my shifter strength. Her forest green eyes glittered up at me as her lips formed a soft smile. Chadwick was talking, but I couldn't hear him. His words must have been directed at her, though, because her eyes flicked over to him just before she got up and once again helped Quil off the ground.

My eyes didn't leave her for the rest of the class period, though she helped with demonstrating some other techniques before Chadwick rounded up the class again and talked about the different ranks of the belts and the different degrees of the black belts. I think he told a joke or story at some point because of the laughter I heard, but I couldn't be sure. Everything he said was in one ear and out the other.

Finally, we were told to line up again and we bowed to Mr. Chadwick and vice versa. As we were walking out of the dojo, Embry started grilling me. "What was that?" he grinned.

"What was what?" I asked, playing stupid even though I knew that he knew exactly what had happened.

Quil caught up with both of us with no problem. "Jakey-boy just got over Bella!" he sang and Embry beamed at me.

I punched him on the shoulder. Hard. "Hey, keep it down!" I hissed.

"Hey, guys! Wait up a second!" the most beautiful voice called from behind us. We stopped and turned around to see Alex smiling at us. She looked at me and then moved her eyes to Quil and Embry. "I never got your names."

"I'm Embry," Em introduced himself.

"Quil," Quil smiled.

She looked to me with raised eyebrows. "Jake," I smiled down at her.

Alex grinned at us. "Well, it's very nice to meet you all. I'm Alex Donovan." She turned her attention to Quil and Embry. "I didn't hurt you guys, did I?"

They both chuckled and shook their heads. "No."

"Though you were pretty close that first time," Quil said.

She twisted her face into a look of concern. "I'm sorry! I was trying to be gentle, but I had a feeling you guys could take it. Believe it or not, I've fought bigger opponents than you three. And I was not gentle with them," she chuckled.

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"They were taken to the hospital," she shrugged.

"Alex!" Chadwick called from the dojo entrance.

She looked back at him then to us again. "Sorry, I've got to go. See you guys later! Nice meeting you!" Alex grinned and started walking back to Chadwick.

My eyes followed her the entire time.

Quil and Embry laughed at me. "Man, he's got it bad," Embry laughed and slapped my back.

"Come on, man. Let's go. I'm starving and I need to skype with Emily so I can see Claire," Quil said and the two of them started walking out of the building.

A smile started to creep its way onto my face. So this whole college thing was a good idea after all. Thanks, Sam.

* * *

**A/N: So this story has been floating around in my head for a while now and I would love your feedback! No hate, please. If you don't like it, don't read it. If there's something you think I could do better with, give me constructive criticism. :) It's been a while since I've written, so I'm sure I'll be a bit rusty for a little while, though I am reading each chapter a few times and editing as I go through them before I publish. **

**I will _try_ to publish regularly. Maybe once a week or once every two weeks. I have no idea how long this story will be yet. But finals are next week, so I will be on a 3 week break after that and hopefully I'll be able to continue updating frequently over the break! I won't set a minimum number of reviews to get the next chapter, but I would like to get actual feedback letting me know that you guys want me to continue the story. If I don't hear anything, I just kind of assume that you don't really care if you get more or not. So reviews are nice. ^_^**

**Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Alex POV**

"Does Miss Alex have a new crush, hmm?" Adam teased me as I walked back into the dojo for club.

I scoffed at him. "On who?" I asked.

"That really big guy you were just eye-fucking out there in the hall…" he smirked.

"You're ridiculous," I sighed and took a spot on the floor to stretch. Although, the more I thought about it, those guys were extremely attractive. Especially Jake. Tall, great body, deep husky voice…. Yeah, I was amazed that I was able to keep myself from shaking or getting all flustered around him.

Adam sat down across from me and, smirk still present, leaned in toward my face so he was able to whisper, "What would Heath think?"

I rolled my eyes. "Heath no longer has a say in my personal life."

"Mhm. And why's that?" he asked.

"Adam. He moved to freakin' London for med school! We both agreed to break it off and see other people," I informed him. Heath was great. And yes, I would always love him, but he was moving on with his life. I needed to do that, too. It helped, though, that we were able to stay best friends through the split.

Adam shook his head and sighed. "It's so weird, though. We all thought you two would be together forever and that you'd be married and popping out kids as soon as he graduated from Cambridge."

The floor suddenly became _very_ interesting. "Yeah. I thought so, too. But London is far away. And med school is stressful. There's no way we would have been able to make it through the stresses of his becoming a doctor _plus_ the added stress of never seeing each other. And all this coming from me. You know how much effort and faith I had in our relationship." I finally looked at him. "There's just too much against us right now."

"Maybe you guys will get back together in the future," he encouraged. "You know, after the whole med school thing and he moves back here."

I gave him a small smile. "Maybe. But what has you suddenly so interested in my relationship with Heath?"

He shrugged as we continued stretching. "I don't know. You two just always seemed so perfect together. And plus, he's one of my best friends. Because of him, I met you and you became one of my best friends. And Kayla loves you." I smiled full-out this time. Kayla was his girlfriend and she was an amazing person.

"What about Kayla?" the girl herself plopped down next to us to stretch for club.

"Oh, nothing, we're just talking about how much you love me," I grinned at her and she laughed. Kayla was a beautiful, bubbly blonde who was way too smart for her own good. And a fantastic martial artist, at that.

"Well, by all means, continue to talk about _yourself_ when I just saw three gods walking out of this hallway," Kayla smirked at me. "Were they coming from here or were they coming from the wrestling room?"

I laughed at her. "They were from here."

"Well, _damn_, girl. I hope you're getting in on that. They are _hot_."

Adam scoffed and straightened up, looking at her. "Excuse me. Your loving and doting boyfriend—right here."

She smiled and kissed him. "I know, baby. And you have nothing to worry about. You're way hotter than them," she kissed him again, but winked at me while he wasn't looking and I held back a laugh.

"Okay, everybody line up," Mr. Chadwick instructed.

* * *

**Jacob POV**

I was working on my calculus homework when Embry walked into the room from his run. "Hey, man," he said as he pulled off his shirt and used it to wipe his forehead.

I didn't look up. I knew that I needed to keep up with the homework if I had any hope of passing the class. "Hey." These problems seemed like they shouldn't be that hard, but I was so confused. What the hell was a limit? And why did they sometimes not exist? I started digging through my notes to try and get some sort of grasp on it, but it didn't really seem to help. Meanwhile, Embry went down the hall to take a shower.

"The limit as x approaches infinity of the function x + 7 over 3x + 5 is… fucking hell," I muttered to myself.

As I was mentally flogging myself, Quil walked in. "Hey, man," he smiled.

"Hey," I grumbled. "Wait, where have you been?"

He kicked off his shoes and flopped onto his bed. "Trying to find my classes for tomorrow. It's weird not having the same classes every day. What have you been up to?"

"Turning my brain into mush. Seriously, who uses calculus?"

Quil sat up and looked at me. "Uh, well… _you_ will with the degree you're going for…" he pointed out.

I scowled. "Fuck you."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, you asked."

Just then Embry walked back into the room, rubbing his hair with his towel. "Hey. You guys want to go eat?"

He didn't need to ask us twice. Quil jumped off the bed and pulled his shoes back on while I dropped my pencil like it was on fire and stood up to pull on a pair of shoes. Fuck calculus.

"Do you guys want to try Holmes tonight? They've got a pasta bar and pizza and sandwiches for dinner," Quil asked.

"Sure, sounds good," Embry and I agreed and we quickly made our way from Hubbard over to the Holmes dining hall.

Walking in, we noticed that it was really crowded tonight. I guess the pasta bar was a crowd favorite. "We should probably try to find someplace to sit first, so we don't end up eating while standing," I suggested. Quil and Embry nodded their heads and started looking around. We were getting a lot of attention from the majority of the students in attendance. I guess three giant Native Americans were a bit odd to see there.

"Hey, Jake, isn't that Alex?" Embry nudged my arm and pointed over to one of the only tables that were not staring at us. Sure enough, that long brown hair and infectious smile was there. And it looked like she was there with her friends. "Think we could sit with them?" he asked.

"Only way to know is to ask," Quil said before he looked at me and laughed. "Em. Jake's fidgeting. He's nervous. He's actually nervous." Em looked over at me and joined in on the laughter before I scowled and punched them both in the shoulders. Hard.

"Let's go," I grumbled and they followed as we walked over to the table. Once we got there, I noticed her friends staring at us. I tried to say something, but the words got caught in my throat.

"Alex?" Embry asked. She looked over and smiled as soon as she saw us, her eyes lingering on me for just a second longer than they had on Embry or Quil.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Her smile was so beautiful. It instantly soothed me and all my nerves just disappeared and I was able to speak again.

"We were just wondering if we could sit with you guys. It's pretty crowded in here," I gestured to the rest of the dining hall and she looked around.

"Yeah, it is. Of course you can sit here," she said and I easily returned her smile. I didn't know what Quil and Embry were doing. They were in the back of my mind at the moment.

"Awesome."

"Oh, um. Guys, these are my friends," she smiled and started pointing everyone out. The girl with shoulder-length dirty-blonde hair with bangs and blue eyes was Taryn, the girl with shoulder-length dark brown hair and hazel eyes was Shae, the tiny girl (even tinier than Alex) with long light brown hair and holding a guy's hand was Lexi, the guy whose hand she was holding with short dark hair and glasses was Steve and the guy with short light brown hair and green eyes was Peter. As they were being introduced, they smiled and waved in turn. "And guys," she turned to her friends, "this is Jake, Embry, and Quil," she smiled.

"Hi," we smiled and waved back.

"We should leave our stuff here, then, and go get our food," Quil said, suddenly returning from the void as he set his stuff down one seat away from Alex, obviously leaving that seat for me. I didn't need to be told twice. I set my keychain with my room key and ID down on the table next to her and she smiled at me before turning back to her friends as we walked over to the line for the food.

* * *

**Alex POV**

I watched as the boys walked away. Well, I watched as Jake walked away. And apparently, he had held my attention far too long for my friends' liking. Taryn and Shae looked at me with wide eyes and ambushed me with the questions, while Lexi, her boyfriend Steve, and one of our best friends, Peter, just watched the exchange happen.

"Who are they? How do you know them? How old are they? Do they take steroids? What do they do for workouts? Damn! What pantheon are they from?" their questions all kind of blurred together as one fast, mushed up cacophony of words. I had to sit there for a moment, staring at them, to try and figure out what they had said.

"What."

It didn't work.

They were about to start again, but I held up a hand and they stopped. "One at a time, please. I already have a headache."

Taryn went first. "Who are they?"

I shrugged. "They're just some guys in the taekwondo class that I help to teach.

"How old are they?" Shae asked.

"I don't know. I only met them today. We haven't really had much chance to converse."

"Are they gods?" Taryn asked completely stone-faced. She was serious.

"What, like Thor? …They could be. They're certainly built like Norse gods," I said and they seemed to agree with me wholeheartedly.

"Not all Norse gods are built like that. Loki's not," Shae pointed out.

"Shae, Loki isn't a Norse god. He's a frost giant," I reminded her.

"Oh yeah, that's right," she mumbled.

"What's taking them so long?" Taryn asked.

I looked around the dining hall and didn't see them anywhere. "Huh. I don't know," I shrugged.

"Well, I want the tall one," Taryn stated.

We all laughed at her. "Tar, they're _all_ tall," Lexi pointed out.

"_Exactly_," she grinned and I shook my head.

"Well, as for the _really_ tall one—I don't think he's yours to claim. He seems to be completely smitten with Ali here," Shae said and everyone's eyes immediately turned to me, causing my cheeks to redden a bit. "Which is good, because she needs to finally get over Heath."

I scoffed, "I am completely over Heath. We had a great relationship. Now we have a great friendship."

"An international friendship," Peter said.

_Thanks for that, buddy_, I thought angrily in my head. "Yeah. An international friendship. But! Technically, if you think about it, our relationship was international, too. He is Australian, after all," I rebutted.

"Yeah, but he was here. There wasn't an entire ocean between you two." Shae put her two cents in. I looked down.

_Wow. Thanks, guys. You're _so_ not helping._ Suddenly there were three trays loaded with mountains of food on them being set down on the table, one of which was directly next to me. I stared at the massive pile of food and then looked up at Jacob. He caught my stare as he sat down and smiled at me. "You're going to eat all that?" I asked and eyed his food. There was literally some of everything from the menu on his tray.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I'm a growing boy," he grinned, showing off his perfect smile.

I gave his giant body a once over and then looked back in his eyes. "You'd better not grow anymore. You already make me feel like a dwarf."

The guys laughed. "Nah, you're not a dwarf. You're more like a pixie or a fairy. You're too pretty to be a dwarf," Embry said and I felt the heat rush into my cheeks again as I looked away.

Shae, Taryn, Peter, Lexi, and Steve were all watching me throughout the entire exchange and I could see exactly what they were thinking through their expressions that were mixtures of pity, happiness, encouragement, and sympathy. I didn't need this right now. I could not deal with all of those looks directed at me at the same time after they had been the second group of people today to bring up my ex-boyfriend. I know they didn't do it on purpose, but they had no idea how much they were hurting me.

"Excuse me," I said and started to get up, leaving my tray behind. "I'll be right back."

I could feel all eight pairs of eyes on me as I walked to the other side of the dining hall, pulling out my phone. It was just after eight at night here, which meant that it was just after one in the morning there, but he always said that I could call any time. The phone rang twice before his groggy voice came through.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I said. "Sorry I woke you." I bit my lip.

"Don't worry about it. I don't have anything important in my morning classes. What's up, babe?" He was more awake now and he definitely sounded concerned. I supposed he should be. I never call him in the middle of the night.

I took a deep breath. "Nothing," I sighed. "I just miss you. I needed to hear your voice."

"Alex. We've been best friends for years. You can't lie to me."

"I know," I breathed.

"I know you better than anyone. In _every _way," he said suggestively, causing me to laugh. "You know it's true," he chuckled.

I smiled. "Yeah, I know."

"So what's up?" he questioned me again, knowing that—even if I didn't want to—I would talk.

"Just—it seems my friends, and yours, have seen fit to make today the official 'Make Alex miss Heath more than she already does' Day. Adam wouldn't shut up about you before club and then Taryn and Shae brought you up and kept talking about you… and it's just getting to me, I guess," I admitted.

"Huh, that's weird. Why were they all bringing me up?" he asked. I could picture his face from the tone of his voice. One eyebrow raised, turquoise eyes looking confused, lips slightly parted….

"…Because of these new guys that we met." I mumbled.

"Ahh, is that right? Do you have your sights set on one?" he teased.

"No! At least… I don't think so…"

"Then one of them has his eyes on you," he stated. His tone left no room for argument. He knew he was right.

"Everyone seems to think so," I sighed.

"Do you?"

I thought about it. I supposed… Jake was awfully smiley around me and he did stare at me a lot. But maybe he was just a friendly person! I let out a deep breath. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Alex, you know I want you to be happy. We broke up so that you wouldn't be tied down to me when I'm all the way across the Atlantic."

"Hey, it was also so you wouldn't be tied down to me while you're all the way across the Atlantic going to freaking _medical school_," I smiled.

He laughed once. "Yeah, like I have time to date anyone. I barely ever leave the library except to go to class and eat. Sleeping is a rare occasion."

My eyes widened. "And I woke you up! I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry."

"Al, it's alright. It's good to hear from you. I needed to hear your voice, too. So never, _never_ feel bad for calling me in the middle of the night. Unless I have an exam in my 8am," He corrected.

I smiled and chuckled. "Okay."

"You're in the dining hall with your friends, aren't you?" it was a question, but it sounded like a statement. I did not understand how he always knew.

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"Go back to your friends," I could hear the smile in his voice. "We'll talk later and catch up with stuff. This weekend sound good? We can FaceTime."

"That sounds great, actually," I said. "Heath—"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," I whispered.

"For what?"

"Doing what you always do. Making me smile. Everything."

"You're welcome, Al. I love you."

"I love you, too," I responded. "Now get some sleep!"

He laughed into the phone. "Yes, ma'am! G'night."

"Night."

I hung up the phone and went back to the table, feeling so much better than I had just ten minutes before.

* * *

**Jacob POV**

I watched, as did everyone else, as Alex stood up and walked to the other side of the dining hall and pulled out her phone.

"She's calling him," Taryn sighed.

"Calling who?" Quil asked.

"Heath," Shae said softly.

Heath? Who the hell was Heath? Cousin? Brother? …Boyfriend? I really hoped it wasn't the latter, but from the looks on her friends' faces, I assumed it was.

Great. So I had some competition for my imprint. I guessed I would just have to make her choose me.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so here's the next chapter! I think I'm going to try to update every Friday at the very least. Which means that if I don't update multiple times within a few days, then I'll update at least that one time a week. :)**

**I hope you all are enjoying the story so far, and if you are-then, please review! You'll get a sneak peek of the next chapter if you review... :D**

**And a big thank you to all of you who are following and favoriting this story!**

**Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 3

**I am SO SO SO SO SO sorry for the extremely long delay in this chapter. But my holiday break was A LOT busier than I expected. I was working practically every day and whenever I wasn't working, my family (understandably) wanted to spend time together since my parents have an empty nest and their two children were home for the break. So I really just have not had a lot of time to write over the last three weeks. I promise I'll try and do better. Classes were supposed to start tomorrow, but for only the SIXTH time in my university's history, we have a snow day. So I was determined to get this out to you all before I went to bed tonight.**

**I hope you enjoy it! Please keep on favoriting and following and PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! It really doesn't take that long and it makes my day. And it also makes me feel like you guys are actually enjoying the story, rather than just being passively interested in it when there's nothing else to read. :) So, without further ado... Chapter 3!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Jacob POV**

Alex came back to the table after about ten minutes of being on the phone and she looked much happier than she did before she left. That only added to my suspicions of this 'Heath' guy being her boyfriend. Damn it. Of course I would imprint on someone who was already taken.

"Everything okay?" I asked as she sat down.

She turned to smile at me. "Yeah, everything's fine. Thanks."

"So how's Heath?" Taryn asked, giving her a very pointed look. I tried to decipher what that look meant, but I just could not figure it out. She looked sort of put off and at the same time, empathetic. Why? Why could guys never figure out what's really going through a woman's head?

I looked at Embry and Quil and they both gave me looks of just pure sympathy. They were mostly inconspicuous looks, but I could see them. They knew that she must have had a boyfriend, too.

Alex scowled at Taryn. "He is doing wonderfully, thanks."

Taryn rolled her eyes and looked at Shae then, the two of them seeming to have their own silent conversation that Alex deliberately ignored.

I wanted to know what was going on, but it seemed to be a sore subject for her at the moment. I decided to change the subject. "So what are you majoring in?"

She looked at me and her eyes were so expressive. It seemed she was thanking me for either changing the subject or not asking. "Zoology," she answered happily.

"Zoology, that's awesome," I grinned. "What do you hope to do with that?"

Wild animals. Hopefully that meant that she wouldn't mind living in a small town surrounded by wilderness. _Not_ that I was thinking of my—a future with her or anything. Certainly not. Not yet.

She shrugged. "I don't really know yet. I would love to work with raptors, though."

"Raptors? Like… Velociraptors?" Embry asked, bemused.

"You want to work with dinosaurs?" Quil put in. He looked just as confused as Embry. "Um… I don't want to be a dream-killer, but… they've been gone for a long time. Like… a _long_ time."

She started laughing. I smiled. She had a beautiful laugh. I wished I had caused it, though. "No, no! Raptors as in birds of prey. Like eagles and falcons and owls. Those are considered raptors," she grinned.

"Oh," Quil and Embry both blushed and her grin got wider.

"So, birds of prey?" I asked, smiling.

She nodded. "Yeah. I think I'd like to have a raptor rehab somewhere or something. Or at least just work with them in some way. I love birds and I want to help." The way her eyes lit up as she talked about them definitely attested to that fact. They sparkled and she seemed to come alive as soon as I had asked her about it.

"What about you?" she looked at me. "What are you majoring in?"

"Mechanical engineering," I answered.

She grinned at me. "That's so awesome. Would you believe me if I said I almost went into that?"

My eyes widened and my throat went dry. "What?"

She nodded. "I love cars."

My heart stopped beating. I swear, it did. For just a moment. My heart stopped and I couldn't breathe. The Fates did a good job in matching us up. Now, if only she weren't already taken….

* * *

**Alex POV**

He really was attractive. "So if you're majoring in that, you must have some mechanical experience, then," I prompted.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, I built my first car," he said. _Built?_ Wow. So he was good with his hands…. "And I fixed up a couple motorcycles for a friend," he started off smiling, but the smile faded as his words trailed off with that last sentence.

He looked sad now. I bit my lip. Something must have happened to—or with—this friend. And it obviously wasn't easy on him, whatever it was. I didn't know if he had a girlfriend or not, but to lighten the mood a bit, I spoke aloud my earlier thoughts.

"So you're good with your hands, then," I said seductively, smirking and looking up at him from beneath my eyelashes. He looked over at me and his breath caught as Embry and Quil started laughing. My smirk widened into a smile and I lightly squeezed his arm. "That's good. Every real man is good with his hands." It worked. He smiled and relaxed. Taryn and Shae seemed a bit happier now, too. I'm assuming the reason for that was the fact that Heath was no longer the main topic of conversation.

Everyone joined in on the conversation and, over the next forty minutes, we all laughed and joked around with each other. And we got to know the giants better, too, which was nice.

It was around 9:30pm when I finally looked at my phone for the time. "Wow. I did not realize it was getting that late. I should be going, guys. I've got a long walk ahead of me," I said and my friends each hugged me in turn and said goodnight.

"I can walk you back," Jake said as he stood up.

I looked up at him. "Do you live in North Campus?"

"No, I'm over in Hubbard."

I smiled and shook my head. "Nah, you don't have to do that. It would be a half hour walk there and then a forty-minute walk back for you. And it's late. You wouldn't get back until almost eleven."

He smiled. "Yes, it's late. Which is exactly why you shouldn't be walking all the way across campus by yourself. You may be a whatever-degree blackbelt and able to kick anyone's ass, but you're still a young woman. And you would be a young woman walking across campus by herself, alone, at night. I don't mind walking you. Honest."

I stared at him for a good thirty seconds and he stared right back, a knowing glint in his eye and a cocky smirk on his lips.

"There's nothing I can say to get you to stay here, is there?"

He shook his head. "Well, the only thing you could say would be that you genuinely don't want to walk with me and absolutely mean it. Can you look me in the eye and say that you'd rather walk by yourself than walk with me?"

I knew that everyone was watching the exchange, just waiting to see what would happen, like some bad reality television show, but at that point, I didn't really care.

I sighed. "No, I can't honestly say that I wouldn't enjoy your company."

He grinned. "Then it's settled." He waved to everyone and grabbed his tray, ready to leave. "See you later."

I smiled and rolled my eyes as I grabbed my tray, quickly catching up to Jake, as he waited for me just a few steps ahead. "Bye, guys!"

"Bye!" they all chorused and, even without looking, I could tell they were all sporting large grins.

* * *

**Jacob POV**

It was a beautiful night for a long walk. And the beautiful company certainly didn't hurt, either. We'd been having a good conversation since she changed the tone back in the dining hall, but there was still that one thing grating on my mind.

"So, who's Heath?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. She faltered in her step a bit, but quickly caught her footing and pace, and looked at me. "I only ask because your friends were mentioning him quite a bit while you were gone back there…" I tried to fix my slip-up.

She smiled a bit sadly at that before she changed her demeanor again. "You're just trying to find out if I'm single, aren't you?" she joked and my eyes widened a bit and I choked on the words that I couldn't think of. She laughed at my expression then turned semi-serious again. "He's my best friend. And he's at Cambridge for Med School right now. We met four years ago at a Taekwondo tournament in Grand Rapids. I was an extremely shy sophomore and he was a fairly social senior in high school and we just hit it off right away. He just has one of those personalities, y'know, that immediately puts you at ease. So, despite my excessively awkward tendencies, he made me comfortable around him. Things were just so easy," she said.

"Wait, if he's only two years older than you, how is he already in medical school?"

"He took a bunch of AP classes in high school and got a bunch of college credit. And because of all of the extracurriculars and volunteer stuff he did in high school, he got basically a full ride here for his Bachelor's in Human Biology. Then because he did so well and so much here, Cambridge offered him a scholarship that was almost a full ride. Other schools did, too, but his dad went to Cambridge and his grandfather, and so on. It was expected of him to go there."

"Wow. That's impressive." Damn it. How the hell could I compete with that? "It sounds like there was more that went on between you two at some point or another," I prompted. I knew that I was being nosey, but I couldn't stop. I just needed to know more about here and my competition here.

"Good ear. Yeah, we dated for a while. After that tournament, we kept in touch in every way possible. He started here for his freshman year of college, I started my junior year of high school, and we started dating. He wasn't supposed to have a car, but he did, he just kept it at his aunt and uncle's house, and he would come see me basically every weekend. He never missed a single skating competition or show from the first time we met and we would always make sure to register for the same taekwondo tournaments. We made it work until I graduated high school. It was a lot easier once I came here for my freshman year. We were able to see each other all the time. It was great," she smiled up at me.

"So what happened?"

"He got accepted to Cambridge and we were going to _try_, at least for a little while, but when he went to London for a week over the summer to visit the campus, I realized that I wouldn't be able to handle that kind of distance and I knew that he would be under ridiculous amounts of pressure from school and that would start to cause things to go downhill." She looked so sad and it was killing me that I couldn't do anything to help her. We were getting closer, but it didn't seem to be to the level where I could just hold her out of nowhere and not be, at least, given a weird look.

"So you ended it?"

"Sort of. He realized the same thing while he was gone. When he got back, we went out one night and we both ended it, but we were determined that we would stay friends. It's how the relationship started, it only seemed fitting that we went back to that foundation."

"Yeah, that makes sense. It's great that you can still be that close to someone you had such a long relationship with," I said, though secretly I was burning inside with joy at the fact that she was no longer with him.

"Yeah," she smiled.

"So what about Taryn and Shae? They don't really seem to like him too much…"

"Oh, no. They love him. They just want me to move on from him. And, I mean, I have. I know it's over. It's been over for almost three months. But the thing is, with a relationship that long, with someone you thought you would spend the rest of your life with, it's going to take a lot longer than three months to get over them. I can see why they don't completely understand that, because they've never been in love, but it gets to me when they give me those looks of annoyance, pity, sympathy, and aggravation whenever he's a topic of conversation. And when I get those looks, it just makes me miss him more. Which is the reason I called him tonight. He's always been able to make me feel better, no matter the situation. Even when I was mad at him," she chuckled and it caused me to let out a small chuckle in response. She looked up at me. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear all of this."

I smiled at her. "It's okay. It's clear you needed to talk to someone. And sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you don't really know too well because you know that there won't be that judgment that may come from others who are closer and more involved in the situation."

She stared at me as we continued our walk along the river. "How old are you again?"

"Nineteen," I answered.

"Nineteen," she repeated. "You are surprisingly mature for a nineteen year old guy, you know that?"

I laughed. "Thanks. I think."

"It's a compliment," she smiled.

We remained silent for a couple minutes as we enjoyed the sounds the birds and squirrels made in the wind and over the sound of the river flowing.

"So what about you?" she asked. "That girl that you fixed the motorcycles for. What happened to her?"

I stared at her, bemused. "How did y—"

She smiled. "You looked like a kicked puppy when you mentioned them earlier and you've got the wisdom of a heart that's been broken."

"Is it really that easy to see?" I asked, horrified that my emotions were showing so clearly on my face now.

"Not to everyone else. I'm just really perceptive. At times. There are other times that I don't notice something that's been around for years. Like the tapestry hanging over the staircase in my house back home," she laughed. "But anyway. This girl?" I hesitated. Did I really want to tell her about Bella right now? "Oh, come on. I told you mine. And we've still got about halfway to go yet, so it's not like we don't have the time."

I sighed. "You're right. Her name's Bella. We met when we were kids because our dads are best friends and would hang out all the time. So while they watched Sports Center, Bella and I played in the backyard. Her parents were divorced, so she would only be with her dad in the summer, and that's why summer was my favorite season growing up. She was my best friend, too. She stopped coming when she was about nine, choosing to meet with her dad someplace warmer for a few weeks, but she moved back to Forks when we were seventeen, and I think that's when I realized that I loved her. I'm only a couple months younger than her, but she always saw me as the baby brother she never had."

"Ouch. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it hurt. But it hurt more when she started dating this prick from her school. They were together for a while, but then, all of a sudden, he and his family up and left, leaving her broken and sobbing in the woods outside her house. It took us hours to find her. She was basically a zombie for four months. Then she brought me the motorcycles and she started coming over all the time. We hung out, we got closer, she tried to help me fix the bikes, but generally wasn't much help. It was just nice having her there. But she started opening up again, started getting her color back and she actually looked alive again. Then, as soon as I felt like there could be something more between us, like maybe she no longer saw me as the little brother, her stupid ex goes and does something stupid and she runs off to save him. They got back together after that, leaving me forgotten in the dust."

Apparently we were to the holding-out-of-the-blue stage, because Alex stopped us and just hugged me. "I am so sorry. If she was so eager to overlook everything you did for her to be with some asshole who had already left her once, then she never deserved you."

I smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks."

I felt her smile against my chest. "What happened after that?"

I squeezed her a little tighter as the memory of the wedding swept through my mind. "They got married."

She pulled away quickly, keeping her arms locked around my waist, but looking at me with wide eyes. "What?"

I nodded. "Yup. I went to the wedding just a couple weeks ago. They're on their honeymoon as we speak."

"Oh, that bitch," she whispered, causing me to laugh.

"It's okay. It's getting easier and easier to get over it," I said, looking straight into her eyes and feeling that gravitational pull intensify ten-fold as I started to lean in just a bit closer.

Alex cleared her throat and stepped away. "Well, we should probably keep walking. It's only a couple minutes away now, but you've got a long walk back."

"That's true," I conceded and we resumed our walk in a peaceful, yet semi-awkward silence. If anything, my walk back would be interesting. I had a lot to think about now. I knew that we had just met today, but she definitely didn't look like she didn't want to kiss me. In fact, she looked like she really wanted to. And I think that's what scared her.


End file.
